


The Path Less Traveled

by Ellie_Enchanted



Series: The one where Lucy gains a Brother [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Families of Choice, Gen, He's just really grumpy, Laxus is a Nice Guy, Lucy is awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 13:18:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9733238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie_Enchanted/pseuds/Ellie_Enchanted
Summary: Laxus is banished from Fairy Tail over a year earlier than in canon, and, through fate or coincidence, happens to meet a newly free Lucy Heartfilia, who decides that as new families go, Laxus wouldn't be too bad. It changes everything, but in the end, it really doesn't change much at all.





	

The first time they meet, Laxus has been an outcast for two months, and Lucy a runaway for two hours.

It's a cobblestone street in a small town, lit by tall, warmly glowing streetlights. The sky is pouring rain that looks like drops of liquid silver as it hits the stone and splashes. And a pretty blonde girl in a ruined pink silk ballgown is running, not looking back, but also not looking where she's going. It is inevitable that she runs into something, and this something just so happens to be someone. A very tall, muscular someone that sends her sprawling back, landing smack in the middle of a puddle.

"Ow! Oh, I'm so sorry, I-" The towering stranger cuts her off with a snarl.

"Oi, watch where you're going." His eyes are narrowed, face frozen in a looming glare. By all rights, he should look scary, but Lucy Heartfillia is already distracted, having noticed something far more interesting than his scary expression.

"Oh! You're Laxus Dreyar! You're a Fairy Tail mage! I read about you in Sorcerer Weekly! What are you doing here?" A star struck look is plastered across Lucy's face. She can't believe how lucky she is. A Fairy Tail mage! A real one, and today of all days. It must be fate. She knew it was a good idea to run away.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm no Fairy anymore, kid." The rain is still falling. The lights are still glowing. Laxus is cold and irritated and done, and becoming more so with every second that this stupid little girl keeps him standing out here in this miserable weather. But she just keeps talking.

"What do you mean, not a Fairy anymore? Did something happen? Are you alright? Do you need help?" The damn kid is still standing there, with this look that just shines with sincerity and worry and awe, and he just can't stand it. He wants her to be afraid of him. He wants her to understand that he isn’t a good person, that she shouldn’t be looking at him like that. God knows everyone else does. He wants to wipe that bright, shiny look right off her face.

"Why don't you just shut up about shit you know nothing about, and go home to your rich daddy before your nice dress and pretty face get any more messed up than they already are?" The words are a bucket of ice water, like the rain that’s been pouring all this time is only now touching her skin. Lucy feels cold, and hurt, and like something sour and awful is twisting in her stomach. Mostly, she feels indignant, and the longer she stands there, the more her shame becomes anger. She wants the dress to be ruined. It's a symbol of everything in that horrible place, everything that she's running from. And maybe his words struck a little too close to home. To Lucy, it feels like a slap in the face. So she returns the favor.

CRACK!

Okay, so that was really not what Laxus was expecting. That actually hurt, even though it couldn't hold a candle to a slap from Mirajane or Erza.

"I was only trying to be nice, you don't have to be such an ass about it! For your information, I couldn't care less about the stupid dress, and I'm never going back to my 'rich daddy'! HYPOCRITE! YOU shouldn't talk about things you don't know about! JERK!"

The rain is pouring harder than ever, and Laxus stares down at this fragile thing, still ranting at him, scolding slowly giving way to a stream of profanity that he wouldn’t have expected some dainty little debutante to know. Somehow, now more than ever, she seems made up of stars and gold and fury. And suddenly, all he can think is that even though she looks like a drowned kitten, her eyes are just pure Fairy Tail. Looking at them is a bit like looking at the home he threw away, the home he wants back more than anything.

"All right." It's the closest he's come to an apology in a long time, the most he can manage right now, and it stops her short. "All right, I hear you. How would you like to go get something to eat, out of the rain? As payment for the insult."

Lucy blinks, a little bewildered and more than a little wary, but nods slowly. She is very hungry, and very tired, and only just realizing that she’s soaked to the bones. "Just until the rain stops."

…

Four months later, the two of them are walking on a different street in a different town. The sun is shining bright, unimpeded by clouds or rain. The summer has turned to autumn, and the air is beginning to have a bite to it despite the clear skies. It’s been a long time – forever, it seems – since that night that they never did part ways in the rain. By then, they know so much more about each other.

Lucy knows that Laxus was banished, and only realized what he'd had when it was already gone (“What did you even do?” “Wouldn’t you like to know.”). She knows that he misses his grandfather, and his friends. (She thinks they would all take him back if he asked).

Laxus knows that Lucy was running away that night, and always had all the wrong things in life (“Seriously, you didn’t even know how to pack a proper bag!” “Shut up, Sparky.”). He knows that she misses her mother, and desperately wants to join Fairy Tail. (He knows they would love her).

Both of them know that the other deserves something wonderful, and both of them believe that the other will get everything they dream of, someday. But that can wait a while. For now, they are just Laxus and Lucy, walking side by side. They’re just walking, and they don’t really have anywhere to be or to go, but that’s fine, because they’ll figure it out.

Neither of them saw it coming, but neither of them are surprised when they get to the end of the street, where the narrow lane opens to a wide plaza with a fountain, and Lucy turns to him and says, "I never had any siblings, but I kind of think that you would make a good big brother. How about it?"

Laxus smiles, just a bit, and says, "All right."

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody!
> 
> Thank you for reading this! I'm thinking about writing more stories in this universe and making it a series, so if you're interested in reading any more, please let me know!
> 
> The title is in reference to, though not a direct quote from, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
> 
> Ellie Enchanted


End file.
